'Doomsday Clock' moves 1 minute closer to midnight

WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of scientists that tracks the likelihood of a global cataclysm says the world is moving closer to doomsday.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced Tuesday that it has moved its “Doomsday Clock” to five minutes to midnight.

The group says inadequate progress on stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and continuing inaction on climate change are the reasons for the change.

The clock had been set at six minutes to midnight for the past two years. It was previously set at five minutes to midnight from 2007-2010.

The group says in a statement that two years ago, there was reason for optimism “that world leaders might address the truly global threats we face. In many cases, that trend has not continued or been reversed.”